Ezra Miller, who portrays the Flash in Warner Bros. Pictures films including last year’s “Justice League,” is slated to attend Wizard World Cleveland.
Courtesy of Wizard World

Pop culture will take center stage again this weekend in the Rock Hall City, with noteworthy guests, live entertainment, exhibitors, cosplayers and imaginative programming. Of course, we’re talking about the fourth annual Wizard World Comic Con Cleveland, happening March 2 through 4 at Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland.

And if you’re talking pop culture, odds are “The Simpsons” will come up in conversation. Representing the longest-running comedy series in TV history is professional artist Phil Ortiz, who returns to Northeast Ohio for Wizard World.

The Los Angeles native’s 30-year career includes working on everything from daily newspaper comic strips (Bugs Bunny) to layouts and design for animated cartoons, including “The Simpsons” where he had a hand in the look of about 200 characters.

“I also designed a lot of the key backgrounds in the first two seasons,” said Ortiz, calling from Lake Arrowhead, California. “They jumped me around from background design to character design. I had my hands full.”

After the first couple of years, Ortiz left the Bart Simpson cartoon to work at Disney before returning in the early ’90s to draw for “The Simpsons” comic books. He still contributes to them.

During his career, Ortiz won five Certificates of Achievement for his work in TV animation. His resume includes stints at animation studios Hanna-Barbera, Warner Bros. Animation and Ruby-Spears.

However, it’s “The Simpsons” where he knows he made his mark.

“I thought working there would pay my bills for a couple of months and that’s it,” Ortiz laughed. “I was wrong, and so was everybody else. Now it’s at 29 seasons for a cartoon show. And if it’s going 29, you know there will be a 30th season. What’s made it last this long is the writing.”

Ortiz said now he’s cut back his illustrating to take part in the comic con zeitgeist where unexpectedly he’s become somewhat of a cult hero to perhaps the next generation of artists.

“Kids come up and ask how cartoons were made before computers,” Ortiz said. “We tell them it was a lot of work. It makes us feel good. Tom Cook and myself, we’re (two) of the last old-school Saturday-morning cartoonists left in the industry that are still doing cartoons. I think we’re the only link to 2D animation, which is almost gone completely.

“What people want to do when they go to comic cons, more or less, is see original artists draw in front of them. Not too many of us do that anymore.”